I thought I would try to get in one last post before 2013 comes to a close. It's been a busy last week and a half. In fact, when the day I last posted was one of the worst I've had since William was born. I won't go into all the details, but William is definitely a two-year-old and I need to work on my coping skills, lol.
Friday of week before last the boys and I made a third trip to the Aquarium to see all the new arrivals including the jelly fish. William had a blast as usual and even getting pooped on the head by a bird didn't dampen his spirit (he didn't even notice!). Friday evening Francis's parents came into town and Saturday morning we started the Phillips' family Christmas!
My mother-in-law and I went and bought food for fondue first thing and then she and Francis went to sell his car at a nearby dealership. Why, you ask? Because Francis got a new car for Christmas!!! I bought his dad's old car (a 2011 Mazda 6 Grand Touring) and Francis is now riding high and sitting awesome. We got a good deal too, which is icing on the cake. Anyway, Francis's sister Cyndy and her family came into town in time for lunch (Fondue!) which took the majority of the afternoon as well as opening presents. We got a lot of wonderful things, but William and Robert won't get their big gift from the grandparents (both sets) until probably March. They will be getting a Playset for the back yard. Even so, there was no shortage of gifts, love and family. It was a wonderful day that ended with driving through the Rockin' Round rock lights. Couldn't have asked for more!
Sunday, Francis, William, Robert, the dogs, and I made the 7 hour journey to Brownfield. It was a long day, but a resounding success. I have two good car babies! My grandparents (Mom and Pop) were glad to see us, and Monday they gave William a taste of farm life. Pop took the boys, Francis and me out to his friend's farm where william was able to ride in a four wheeler and DRIVE a tractor (he had some help, don't worry). Then we went down the road and saw the pigs and cows. It was a day William will talk about for year to come! The rest of my family (mom, dad christian, danielle, Aunt Camille and Chad) came in Monday afternoon an Christmas Eve Day. Tuesday night we all took pictures and attended the Christmas Eve service where the "Noble, Phillips and Drake singers" sang Hark the Herald Angels Sing on stage while William danced and Robert slept in Francis's arms. We were adorable. Afterward we had dinner, read the Christmas story and opened gifts. William and Robert cleaned up a second time. They got so much stuff! Of course the stuff doesn't matter; memories are priceless and many good ones were made. Robert's first Christmas was a good one! He had to change a bunch of times to wear all his Christmas clothes, but he didn't mind one bit. He was all smiles! Christmas day we had a feast of all feasts and then almost everyone feel asleep in a food coma. William got to feed the ducks at the pond and then after he went to bed, we played a competitive game of marbles. (We are the champions, my friend!)
Thursday we headed home and unloaded our overloaded Escape (with hitch hauler and roof rack too). the boys were good again, but William was ready to be home by the end. Friday Francis worked and I tried to get the house in order and got Francis new car fixed (the mirror got messed up in all the excitement). Oh and Robert started wearing 9 month clothes. He's getting so big I can't keep his closet updated fast enough. He'll be in and out of these before I know it!
Saturday we spent some time shopping at the mall to get clothes for everyone and after lunch everyone took a (much needed) 3 hour nap/rest. Yesterday after church my in-laws came up to have lunch and get a couple of things from us. It was fun to spend some unexpected time with them. They even helped move our huge TV downstairs to the garage so we can get rid of it and have more room for the boys' toys. That thing was not getting used and taking up a good part of the room.
Today a strange thing happened at HEB. I noticed a woman when I came in wandering around the store with no cart and not looking at any items. I saw her a couple of times while I was there, but she never had anything in her hands. When I went to check out, she wandered out of the store with nothing after shopping for over an hour. I said something to the cashier who alerted the manager. Then the woman wandered back in. The employees think she might have Alzheimer's and were going to gingerly confront her when sh came around again to make sure she was alright. They were very glad I said something, and I am too. Wasn't sure how to handle it...
Well, I'm needed, so this is the short version of what I'd really like to write. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Monday, December 30, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
December 19, 2013
Amidst my flurry of frantic house cleaning, I write this entry. The presents are wrapped and under a tree (not all of them are under mine), and after I finish cleaning, I can finally relax. I don't enjoy the Christmas shopping. Gift giving is not my love language (as evidenced by the fact Francis and I forget to get each other anniversary gifts every year until after the fact), so I love it when someone gives me a list of things they want. It proves to me that I am serving them in some way by giving them something they will actually use. My main love language is quality time so I am nearly giddy over this coming weekend and week where we will get to spend time with our families and love on them. I hope to be able to enjoy every moment.
Last weekend, Danielle (my baby sister!!!) graduated from Hardin-Simmons University with a Bachelors in Education. As I watched her cross the stage, I choked up a bit with pride. I truly have an amazing family. Well, to get to graduation, we had to drive from Austin to Abilene and back in one day. It was a lot of driving to say the least, but we made it in about 13 hours. A second highlight of this trip was seeing Rebecca B and meeting her little boy Jonas. Jonas is 3 days younger than Robert, so it was fun to swap babies as we caught up on each other's lives. It was a good long day.
Monday Francis took off work and took William back to aquarium so I could clean the upstairs of our house. I worked like crazy, but finally feel like I have a handle on things. Robert and I met Francis and William for our little family "christmas" dinner at Longhorn steakhouse where they inevitably got my steak cooked very wrong and my meal was free. The steak was delicious once they fixed it. Francis and William had a great time together too. William even got to feed a shark! All in all a good day.
Angel and Ranger joined us at the Little Gym this week. The boys had a great time and afterward, we all had Chick-fil-a for lunch. It was fantastic! Wednesday, we had out last MOPS meeting of the year and heard a speaker from the Austin Pregnancy Resource center about what is going on with their organization and in Austin as a whole. Her words were encouraging!
William is always thinking. Yesterday I told him he could have a cookie if he washed his hands (they were dirty from outside). He did so, got the cookie and ate it. He then told me his hands were dirty and asked to wash them. I let him and then hes said, "Mommy, i wash my hands. I get another cookie now." Nice try, kid.
Robert is growing so fast! He's at least 16 lbs. now and has so much control of his boy. I found out he cannot only scoot on his stomach, but his back as well. I laid him down to make breakfast this morning and he scooted (on his back) halfway across the room before I caught him. William was helping me or I'd have blamed him. Robert is also a chatter box! he rarely passes up a chance to respond to your inquiries. Last night we "talked" for over 30 minutes! He sleeps pretty well too. He wakes up once (or sometimes twice) in the night, and sleeps in in the morning. I'll take it!
Today I've been cleaning. I even washed the dogs with William's help. I thought it would make them shed less so I could wash the carpet, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. Oh well!
Till next time!
Last weekend, Danielle (my baby sister!!!) graduated from Hardin-Simmons University with a Bachelors in Education. As I watched her cross the stage, I choked up a bit with pride. I truly have an amazing family. Well, to get to graduation, we had to drive from Austin to Abilene and back in one day. It was a lot of driving to say the least, but we made it in about 13 hours. A second highlight of this trip was seeing Rebecca B and meeting her little boy Jonas. Jonas is 3 days younger than Robert, so it was fun to swap babies as we caught up on each other's lives. It was a good long day.
Monday Francis took off work and took William back to aquarium so I could clean the upstairs of our house. I worked like crazy, but finally feel like I have a handle on things. Robert and I met Francis and William for our little family "christmas" dinner at Longhorn steakhouse where they inevitably got my steak cooked very wrong and my meal was free. The steak was delicious once they fixed it. Francis and William had a great time together too. William even got to feed a shark! All in all a good day.
Angel and Ranger joined us at the Little Gym this week. The boys had a great time and afterward, we all had Chick-fil-a for lunch. It was fantastic! Wednesday, we had out last MOPS meeting of the year and heard a speaker from the Austin Pregnancy Resource center about what is going on with their organization and in Austin as a whole. Her words were encouraging!
William is always thinking. Yesterday I told him he could have a cookie if he washed his hands (they were dirty from outside). He did so, got the cookie and ate it. He then told me his hands were dirty and asked to wash them. I let him and then hes said, "Mommy, i wash my hands. I get another cookie now." Nice try, kid.
Robert is growing so fast! He's at least 16 lbs. now and has so much control of his boy. I found out he cannot only scoot on his stomach, but his back as well. I laid him down to make breakfast this morning and he scooted (on his back) halfway across the room before I caught him. William was helping me or I'd have blamed him. Robert is also a chatter box! he rarely passes up a chance to respond to your inquiries. Last night we "talked" for over 30 minutes! He sleeps pretty well too. He wakes up once (or sometimes twice) in the night, and sleeps in in the morning. I'll take it!
Today I've been cleaning. I even washed the dogs with William's help. I thought it would make them shed less so I could wash the carpet, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. Oh well!
Till next time!
Friday, December 13, 2013
December 13, 2013
It's been quite a week!
Last weekend, Francis and I packed up the boys and headed to Plano for Christian's lingerie shower. What?! you may ask, but you read right. We braved the ice storm. We were ok pretty much up until we made it to Plano, where the ice was so think that we skated a couple of times. I was so relieved to reach Francis's parents house that I nearly cried. I will never do it again if I don't have to, especially with my babies in the car! The rest of the weekend I rode in my dad's truck, which was much more suited for ice driving. Saturday morning, my dad picked up Robert and me, and along with my sisters, we drove over to Ashley's house for the shower. We decked out her house and had a nice little party. It was nice to see everyone and celebrate Christian. while I was at the party with Robert, Francis, his parents and William gave William his first sledding experience in their front yard using a cookie sheet. He had a great time. I think he may have some Canadian blood or something because it was cold! Sunday we waited until the ice began to melt and then headed home. It was weird to see everything in white melting to color. Strangely beautiful.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we went about our daily routine and tried to finish Christmas shopping. Thursday we hit up Lakeline Mall where we had lunch with Arlene and Caitlin before going to play downstairs. While William was playing, I met a Korean woman with a 4 year old girl and a 1 year old boy who live in the same neighborhood as the other Korean woman I met this summer. Both have daughters the same age, are new to the area, and are looking for friends. I gave each of them the other's number. As delighted as the woman was that I had been to Korea and could talk to her about it, she just about jumped over the moon when I told her there was a woman just down the street from her with which she had so much in common. I have a hunch they will be fast friends once they meet because they are both so sweet! Funny how things work out sometimes. Thursday afternoon, we did a Lego practice time at The Little Gym where William had a great time just goofing off with friends. Legos are just so much more fun when you can run them into your friend's Legos and you can both laugh. Boys...
Today we attended the grand opening of the Austin Aquarium. It was fun, but the Aquarium is far from fully operational. Thankfully there were few people there due to the rain and cold, so we had little competition to see the animals that were actually on display (about a 1/3 of the tanks are still empty).William loved the playground there, thought it is definitely not designed by a parent. Children come off the slide into the main aquarium area where parents can't really see them, so it would be easy for kids to get lost with more people around. We loved the bird area. One actually landed on my head. William thought that was hilarious! It pooped after it took off again, and I was thankful I did not get hit. We have season passes, and I look forward to getting our money's worth out of them as the year progresses. I wouldn't recommend paying full price for one day yet though as I don't think it would be worth it.
William and Robert have been playing more and more together. It's adorable to see them laugh and smile at each other. I'm so blessed!
Pray for us tomorrow as we drive back and forth from Abilene for Danielle's graduation. It's gonna be a long (but good) day!
Last weekend, Francis and I packed up the boys and headed to Plano for Christian's lingerie shower. What?! you may ask, but you read right. We braved the ice storm. We were ok pretty much up until we made it to Plano, where the ice was so think that we skated a couple of times. I was so relieved to reach Francis's parents house that I nearly cried. I will never do it again if I don't have to, especially with my babies in the car! The rest of the weekend I rode in my dad's truck, which was much more suited for ice driving. Saturday morning, my dad picked up Robert and me, and along with my sisters, we drove over to Ashley's house for the shower. We decked out her house and had a nice little party. It was nice to see everyone and celebrate Christian. while I was at the party with Robert, Francis, his parents and William gave William his first sledding experience in their front yard using a cookie sheet. He had a great time. I think he may have some Canadian blood or something because it was cold! Sunday we waited until the ice began to melt and then headed home. It was weird to see everything in white melting to color. Strangely beautiful.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we went about our daily routine and tried to finish Christmas shopping. Thursday we hit up Lakeline Mall where we had lunch with Arlene and Caitlin before going to play downstairs. While William was playing, I met a Korean woman with a 4 year old girl and a 1 year old boy who live in the same neighborhood as the other Korean woman I met this summer. Both have daughters the same age, are new to the area, and are looking for friends. I gave each of them the other's number. As delighted as the woman was that I had been to Korea and could talk to her about it, she just about jumped over the moon when I told her there was a woman just down the street from her with which she had so much in common. I have a hunch they will be fast friends once they meet because they are both so sweet! Funny how things work out sometimes. Thursday afternoon, we did a Lego practice time at The Little Gym where William had a great time just goofing off with friends. Legos are just so much more fun when you can run them into your friend's Legos and you can both laugh. Boys...
Today we attended the grand opening of the Austin Aquarium. It was fun, but the Aquarium is far from fully operational. Thankfully there were few people there due to the rain and cold, so we had little competition to see the animals that were actually on display (about a 1/3 of the tanks are still empty).William loved the playground there, thought it is definitely not designed by a parent. Children come off the slide into the main aquarium area where parents can't really see them, so it would be easy for kids to get lost with more people around. We loved the bird area. One actually landed on my head. William thought that was hilarious! It pooped after it took off again, and I was thankful I did not get hit. We have season passes, and I look forward to getting our money's worth out of them as the year progresses. I wouldn't recommend paying full price for one day yet though as I don't think it would be worth it.
William and Robert have been playing more and more together. It's adorable to see them laugh and smile at each other. I'm so blessed!
Pray for us tomorrow as we drive back and forth from Abilene for Danielle's graduation. It's gonna be a long (but good) day!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
December 5, 2013
So much has happened since last I posted!!! It will be a struggle to decide what to include and what to leave out.
Last Wednesday we made it to Plano after an extra hour and a half of traffic. Thanksgiving day was SO GOOD. It wasn't our usual extended family extravaganza. It was just the four of us, my parents, sisters, Chad and hid mom and step dad. It was very low key and delicious. After food, everyone but William, Christian and Chad's mom donned our jerseys and headed to the COWBOYS GAME!!!! My Dad's company has tickets they give to clients but no one wanted them for Thanksgiving. We split up guys and girls (Robert went with the girls) and drove to the stadium. With our parking pass in Lot 5, we knew we were parking close. We just kept driving closer and closer to the stadium until someone stopped us and checked our car for bombs. We thought this odd until we saw our spot. It was quite literally in the doorway of one of the entrances. We were giddy with excitement. We got to our seats on row 18 at the 50 yard line, and it all started to sink in. We were at an actual cowboys game! In seats we totally didn't deserve. And with access to the owners club where free prime rib and drinks and a multitude of other delicious foods were served free of charge. I can't help but think that the feeling I had just then is a millionth of what I will feel when I get to heaven. You can bet I was thankful!!!!! Oh and we won! Side note: Robert was fussy the whole game and I found that night he is cutting his first tooth! His first thanksgiving included his first cowboys game and his first tooth. Quite a big day for this little man. Second side note: when we got home, it was clear William had been spoiled rotten. Thanks Auntie Chrissy!
Friday we packed up the boys and headed to San Antonio. I was glad Francis was driving as this is not a short trip! We made it to the hotel a while after the rest of Francis family (Cyndy, Chris, Abby, his parent and Nana Phillips). Francis's grandmother got to meet Robert for the first time. Francis caught a picture of the look on her face when Robert entered the room. It was a look of pure delight. Makes my heart happy to say the least. We attended the Christmas parade on the riverwalk followed by Sea World the next day. It was so fun to see Abby and William playing and interacting with each other and Robert. Sweet cousins!!
Sunday we got to see Gershom, Kristi and their two little girls before heading back to Austin. We love their sweet family! I also got a new phone Sunday evening. My old one's speaker broke while we were away.
Monday and Tuesday I tried to play catchup and get back on schedule. Wednesday was the church Bazaar at MOPS and I got a couple cute things. Today I had the Christmas brunch at Bible Study where both Robert and William were part of the program. Robert was one of the babies for the baby Jesus song, "You're here" and William performed in his first Children's concert. Both boys were great. Robert didn't cry, and William stood smiling while the other kids sang. William also shook a mean jingle bell and daced when the time came. Oh yeah, I got a video!
Well, I have to cut this short because Robert is fussy and I forgot to eat lunch. Till next time!
Last Wednesday we made it to Plano after an extra hour and a half of traffic. Thanksgiving day was SO GOOD. It wasn't our usual extended family extravaganza. It was just the four of us, my parents, sisters, Chad and hid mom and step dad. It was very low key and delicious. After food, everyone but William, Christian and Chad's mom donned our jerseys and headed to the COWBOYS GAME!!!! My Dad's company has tickets they give to clients but no one wanted them for Thanksgiving. We split up guys and girls (Robert went with the girls) and drove to the stadium. With our parking pass in Lot 5, we knew we were parking close. We just kept driving closer and closer to the stadium until someone stopped us and checked our car for bombs. We thought this odd until we saw our spot. It was quite literally in the doorway of one of the entrances. We were giddy with excitement. We got to our seats on row 18 at the 50 yard line, and it all started to sink in. We were at an actual cowboys game! In seats we totally didn't deserve. And with access to the owners club where free prime rib and drinks and a multitude of other delicious foods were served free of charge. I can't help but think that the feeling I had just then is a millionth of what I will feel when I get to heaven. You can bet I was thankful!!!!! Oh and we won! Side note: Robert was fussy the whole game and I found that night he is cutting his first tooth! His first thanksgiving included his first cowboys game and his first tooth. Quite a big day for this little man. Second side note: when we got home, it was clear William had been spoiled rotten. Thanks Auntie Chrissy!
Friday we packed up the boys and headed to San Antonio. I was glad Francis was driving as this is not a short trip! We made it to the hotel a while after the rest of Francis family (Cyndy, Chris, Abby, his parent and Nana Phillips). Francis's grandmother got to meet Robert for the first time. Francis caught a picture of the look on her face when Robert entered the room. It was a look of pure delight. Makes my heart happy to say the least. We attended the Christmas parade on the riverwalk followed by Sea World the next day. It was so fun to see Abby and William playing and interacting with each other and Robert. Sweet cousins!!
Sunday we got to see Gershom, Kristi and their two little girls before heading back to Austin. We love their sweet family! I also got a new phone Sunday evening. My old one's speaker broke while we were away.
Monday and Tuesday I tried to play catchup and get back on schedule. Wednesday was the church Bazaar at MOPS and I got a couple cute things. Today I had the Christmas brunch at Bible Study where both Robert and William were part of the program. Robert was one of the babies for the baby Jesus song, "You're here" and William performed in his first Children's concert. Both boys were great. Robert didn't cry, and William stood smiling while the other kids sang. William also shook a mean jingle bell and daced when the time came. Oh yeah, I got a video!
Well, I have to cut this short because Robert is fussy and I forgot to eat lunch. Till next time!
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